I called T-Mobile and they said I should not have a problem using wi-fi without a data plan.

I went the FAQ section and followed the directions that someone posted. These were to download and install: JL_Cmder\JL_Cmder.cmd. I first made a backup of my data (as per the directions) and then ran the program above to clear security settings/IT policies. The phone screen looked as though it changed to what it would have been out of the box in 2007, and then, as per the directions, I went back into Desktop Manager to restore my previous settings (backup).

I then opened the Opera Mini browser I had installed and got the message, "....trying to access a low-level connection" and I thought it was not going to work, but I answered "YES" to the prompts and IT WORKED!!

I then tried the hotspot browser and that WORKED TOO!!!

So this issue seems to be that whatever IT policy the phone had from the previous owner was not allowing connection to the internet even though the phone recognized the network.

Because I had also adjusted other settings and wiped the phone, I am not sure if I could have just ran the program above (JL_Cmder\JL_Cmder.cmd) and everything would have been fine. In other words, I don't know if any previous changes I had made would have been necessary. For instance, among other changes, I updated the phone to OS 4.5 and I'm not sure it if this was a necessary step in the process.

Thank you for directing me to the FAQ's and I truly appreciate the person who posted the information about how to remove previous IT policies, because as he/she mentioned, about 80% of the people out there have Blackberry's they got from EBAY (I'm not sure this statistic is true, but I'm sure there are many people who have picked up second-hand Blackberry's instead of allowing them to rot).